It is indeed convenient, the price we pay is not obvious. Turnover for the people who work at their warehouse is high due to the conditions they suffer under. The same workers who will rightly feel its everybody for themselves as we race to the bottom. Who will win?

@Robecology I work with people who worked at amazon. Swapping anecdotes however will not prove either of us correct. Consider however the environment designed to maximize " productivity". Supervisors who get bonuses for meeting targets and the human element. You begin your shift by punching a time clock. Your time alloted for your tasks is now running. Get to your work station pick up your needed equipment. If anything needs charging or filling it comes out of your alloted time. A 5 minute delay puts you under pressure. You go to the aisle to pick your product. The guy in front of you had no delay so he is not under pressure.He works at a pace to get his pallet stacked.You wait 2 minutes. Now your 7 minutes down. You get to your slot to pick. Some cases are damaged or the person filling the slot has a delay of their own .you lose another 2 minutes. You finally get picking 9 minutes down. This time you cannot make up. You inform your sup of delays .They give you half the time you put in for. Your on camera and you can scan in at different points on the warehouse floor. The supervisor knows you have not enough time to prove your case as it will eat into your next run.You are forced to accept whatever is given. You continue your runs a triple pallet with 700 cube on each pallet is allowed 50 minutes. You are 5 minutes behind starting 2nd run. After 2 hours you get a break. Your break time begins when you log out. Its a 5 minute walk to breakroom and back. Breaks can only be taken in breakroom. You are not allowed to run.Your still down 5 minutes. What do you do. If you skip your break you will be up 10. Workers skip breaks. You do another run and with smaller delays you lose 5 minutes. No problem your still 5 up.Your sup is not at their station so you don't get any allowance for down time.This continues. Fast pace, repetitive work,high stress, noisey hot work environment.
Now comes the killer.
Because you and your fellow workers have acheived the required number of case per hour and may even be 5 minutes to the good. Each runs data is calibrated. That run that you gave up your break on gets some time removed. It may not be a full 10 minutes but it is a cumulative process.
Why work there? Its the American dream! Pull yourself up by your boots straps. But wait I work hard, my body is tired, my health suffers, my kids mind themselves.I can keep on this treadmill forever.I am constantly stressed. Who's fault is it? It the illegals! The moochers! The lazy inner city welfare queens taking my taxs. I don't want to pay taxs. I don't want immigrants taking my job.
Hey look AMAZON gives me free shipping.woohoo

@Tooreen Anecdotes about timing an individual does not make much of a difference to you nor me.

What makes a difference is

1. Amazon has unbeatable prices.
2. Amazon has fast delivery
3. Amazon has a huge workforce.
4. There's always going to be some who work below par, get fired, complain about conditions, and
5. There's always going to be many willing to take their place if they can't hack it.
6. Amazon is changing the way we shop for goods we need. They save us time, gas, and pollution.

Hey. look... Amazon employs tens of thousands with a far better overall rating by their employees than Walmart!

Now that's something to Woo hoo about!

[comparably.com]

@Robecology lets compare Amazon to Walmart LMBO. Set a high standard. We can get goods made in China for the price of a bowl of rice. They have factories with barb wire fencing to keep people from breaking in to work, According to a former candidate for President who saw it first hand.
And yes your proving my point there is always someone who will work for less. Why because they have nothing! Labor in this Country has to struggle constantly for basic human rights. Minimum wage is kept lower than production levels in the last 40 year's.Automation will drive some out of the workforce.The best and fittest among us get old and feeble. Someone in their prime can work faster than someone in middle age. These are all hidden costs of amazon/ walmart economics. Let not your sleep be troubled. You are doing fine.

@altschmerz Quoting from the article;

"I'm a current Amazon employee and I think the dude that wrote you that email was full of shit. This is a competitive culture and unlike companies with huge funding reserves or incredibly high margin business models, Amazon is at heart a retail company where margins are slim by the nature of our business. On account of that we need to work hard: people who can't compete are weeded out the same way they are in any other highly competitive company. Amazon's demonstrated success and explosive growth are indicative of our success in our corporate culture. It seems like this person wasn't cutting it."

Basically; The job is tough. Suck it up or quit. Many others would love your job.

[gawker.com]